Week of September 29, 2024

This past week has been hard, and a real eye opener. With all the flooding in North Carolina and seeing people going without food, water, power, cell service makes you wonder if we would be prepared for such. We always thought we live on higher ground, we live in the mountains a flood couldn’t happen here, now I look around with the Pigg River right behind our house (even though it is a big hill separating us from the river) and think, oh wow maybe it could happen as the water has to go somewhere. As I scroll through social media I see the destruction, I see all the people looking for their loved ones, seeing all the homes, and farms lost and wonder what I would do in a situation like that. I honestly can say I don’t know what I would do, but I do know I am prepared for the what ifs.  

I always say I am prepared for days without electricity we have food; we have a water source, we have 2 generators to run our freezers, and we have Starlink for our internet/communication, but is it enough? Everyone jokes and says, “if anything happens, we are going to your house” I tell them “Why don’t you prepare now for the just in case.” Their response is usually “Why? when I can just come to your house.” Yes, I have food, and probably more than what my husband and I need, but I also think about my girls and their families. I want to be able to provide them a safe place to come so we can have all our loved ones together during a stressful time. So, you ask what would we need to prepare for such a tragedy? My planning is simple

Is there more we could do to prepare, yes but this is what I always have for the what if.  I know we could have more and prepare better but my thinking is I have food, water, a way to communicate, and a way to cook food. This isn’t just about weather-related events that happen in our area, but this could be for anything that happens! The world we live in today, is not the same world that our grandparents lived in. We need to learn about being self-sufficient. No, you don’t have to grow all your own food, and just rely on yourself. Get to know your neighbors, get to know your local farmers, as a community we can be self-sufficient and not rely on the national food chain. My husband and I were talking the other day, why can’t a few neighbors get together and plan a garden together, like we could grow the squash, tomatoes, and beans, our other neighbor could grow the corn, peppers, and potatoes, while the other neighbor could grow the cabbage, lettuce, and some fruits. At the end of the season, bring it all together and split it up. With livestock, one neighbor raises 2 cows, another the pigs, and another the chickens. By being a community that works together this world would be such a better place and we wouldn’t have to worry about the what ifs as we would be prepared!

As I conclude this email, remember it’s not wrong to be prepared. You always need to think about what you could do to survive if a tragedy struck. Not just flooding, tornados, hurricanes, snowstorms, anything could happen! As fall turns into winter, and we will be inside more learn something to prepare for you and your family. Learn how to can, learn how to bake a basic bread recipe, learn how to sew, learn how to process a deer, these skills are very valuable. Learn what plants that God has given us to make medicines, or ointments. We have 2 books we keep on hand about herbal remedies, so if the time came and we needed some kind of medicine we could go out to the yard, the fields and find these plants to make what we need for healing.  No matter where you live you can always be prepared. You can grow a small garden, keep a few quail on the back porch, can some foods, go hunting, all these things will help you be prepared.

As always if you ever need direction to get you started please reach out to us, we are here to share our knowledge and skills. We don’t know everything, and our way of doing things might not work for you, but with the knowledge you can learn what you can do to make it work for you.